


summer rain - a short story

by loveinadoorway



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adultery, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 17:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveinadoorway/pseuds/loveinadoorway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old lady remembers a brief encounter in the summer rain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	summer rain - a short story

Summer rain.  
The slow trickle of water on her skin.  
She remembered it well. It seemed like she'd been a completely different person then, with a different body. A body that was pliable and firm and gave her no trouble at all. Her skin had had another texture, then, too. Finer, lighter, smoother.  
She looked at her hands, folded in her lap. Her skin was like parchment now, telling the story of her long life, written in nicks and spots and line upon line of experience.  
It had grown hard to recall the date, or where she had put her reading glasses, but that summer day so long ago was still a vibrant memory, shiny and new. It sparkled in her mind, a treasure, a keepsake, a memory to warm her.

Ira had been a good man. A fine farmer, a steady husband. He had joined the army, doing his duty for his country just as he did his duty for her and the kids. It had been hard on her and the kids, his leaving. Winter had been harsh, the cows had been sick and money was tight. Ira was fighting in Europe somewhere and in between the normal, boring chores that filled her day, she would feel a stab of fear. Fear for his safety, fear for his life, fear of what would happen to her, the kids and the farm if he never came back. And sometimes, there was even fear of what life would be like if he did come back. She had grown so independent during his absence. Necessity had forced her to take control of her life and she felt fairly certain that Ira wouldn't like that one bit.

She had been sitting on the porch on that day, just like now, in her rocking chair. The children had been asleep and she was savouring this time alone. Nothing to do, no decisions to make, nothing of importance to ponder. Idleness was a rare commodity and so she wasn't entirely certain what to do with her time of leisure.  
There were gillyflowers printed on her dress. At least that's what Maggie from the store had said. She had never seen gillyflowers anywhere and she wondered what they might smell like.  
The rain was blurring all shapes, giving the world out there an underwater look. It rained huge, heavy drops that jumped back up from the ground, a noisy downpour with a certain wildness to it.  
He appeared out of the indistinct shadows of the woods beyond the road, another blurred shape among many at first.  
He was tall and his hair was so wet the colour could be anything, but she willed it to be black. So black it was. His eyes were green and the old woman wished she were poet enough to describe them in a way that would do justice to their beauty. She hadn't been able to back then, when she was young, and she for sure couldn't do it now.

He just stood there and looked at her. Looked at her so intensely that she knew this would be the moment. The one moment of adventure in her oh so ordinary life. Her one chance to do something outrageous, something she didn't dare admit to herself she had lacked so far. He didn't say hello, he didn't even smile, he just looked at her for the longest time.  
Then he simply held out his hand and she walked out into the rain with him.

It was warm and cosy in the barn. Familiar noises, familiar smells. Strange, how he didn't say a single word the whole time. Neither did she, for fear he'd run off at the noise, like a wild animal. They undressed without touching. She liked the look of him. So unlike Ira. A hard, lean body, with just a fine line of hair from the navel downwards. A nice body, clean and fair-skinned.  
He ran his hands over her body, savouring each curve. They made love in the hay on an old blanket. It was tender and hot at the same time and the pricks from the hay enhanced the feeling of being alive even more. That he was a complete stranger made her bold, made her dare to touch him and to let him touch her in ways she had never experienced before. It was a moment of sheer magic. His touch warmed her like sunshine. She lived in the here and now, with no regrets and no fear of the consequences.

They dressed in silence and parted in silence. She didn't even know his name. The water trickled gently down her body as she stood and watched him leave. All that he had made her feel would forever be linked to the smell of rain and hay and horses.

The old lady on the porch smiled. Nobody knew of this, not even Ira, rest his soul. Hands still folded calmly in her lap, she sat in her worn rocking chair and for a moment, in spite of the clear blue sky, the air smelled like rain.


End file.
